Through the Sonic "Limeades for Learning" program, the California High School Library was able to purchase $500 worth of Britannica reference books. Janet Henley, the California High School library media specialist, had posted a project they had of needing new reference books on donorschoose.org. California Sonic General Manager Pam White noticed Henley's post on the website which is partnered with, and contacted her about using the "Limeades for Learning" contest to reach her goal. Henley then affiliated the request as a "Limeades for Learning' Teacher Project.

"From there White and I kept in communication," Henley said. "We had some announcements here at school. Several teachers got behind the project and we had teachers and students voting. The teachers would let the students vote at the end of classes. The students would register their email addresses and would get one vote per email per day. Then if they went to Sonic and got a "Limeades for Learning" sticker off their receipt it would give them two extra votes. Our project was funded after about 1,600 votes."

Henley said they were able to accomplish this through the cooperation of White, teachers, students and the community. They got coverage for the contest through Facebook and had help from Mike Staton, who announces the California Pinto football games. Staton gave info on the contest on the radio and at the games.

Through "Limeades for Learning" Sonic was able to fund 128 out of 523 projects in Missouri with $62,213.50 donated. In the United States 686 out of 8,698 projects were funded with $346,513 donated.

Henley was able to purchase eight Britannica reference books. She chose reference books because they are expensive and hard to get with her budget. In fact, she added the $500 she received was a 20 percent boost to her budget.

"We had our employees involved," White said. "Students would come through the drive-thru. The contest was on my personal Facebook and on our website. In the end I had confidence we were going to be able to make it happen. But they really came together to get it done."

Henley said it is something they will definitely do next year. She added when the students come back from summer vacation for them to realize school is starting, football is starting and "Limeades for Learning" is starting, so they can get more votes even faster. White said something great about the contest is it doesn't have to be limited to the high school. So the high school, middle school and elementary could all compete and all be awarded prizes with "Limeades for Learning." It just takes votes.

""It is something we value," White said, "backing our children. Every school has a budget, but there is always more that can be funded. Sonic's been able to help a lot in that department. With 'Limeades for Learning' you have the power to get it funded."

"Limeades for Learning" starts every September. To register, go to www.sonicdrivein.com, www.limeadesforlearning.com or donorschoose.org. You can also call White at 573-796-6334.